Kevin Gallaher: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: NapervilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Naperville City Council Age: 53Family: Wife - KathiSon - TomSon - FrankieDaughter - MeghanOccupation: AttorneyEducation: Benet AcademySt. John's University (MN) B.A. GovernmentDePaul University College of LawCivic involvement: Downtown Advisory CommissionNaperville Development PartnershipNaperville RespondsTurning Pointe Autism FoundationTransportation Advisory BoardNaperville United Way Annual Campaign ChairWest Suburban Mass Transit DistrictElected offices held: Naperville City Council - 1995 - 2002 and 2015 - presentQuestions Answers What should be the city's role in promoting availability of housing for people of all ages and income levels in Naperville? What should be more important in making decisions about proposed housing developments -- the opinions of neighbors or the housing needs of the community as a whole? Why?Naperville promotes a diverse and vibrant housing stock. Past leaders adopted policies that encourage and support housing options for individuals and families across the economic spectrum. With an aging populations, Naperville's attention has turned to developing housing options with first floor bedrooms, minimal stairs and low maintenance yards to support the needs o our seniors. Supporting diverse housing options is only part of the equation. Naperville must also encourage the development of infrastructure to support our residents. This infrastructure includes recreation, houses of worship, shopping and other necessary amenities. Naperville has always required this infrastructure and will continue to do so in the future.Balancing the opinions of neighbors with the needs of the community is the most difficult job of a City Council member. Typically, neighbors are concerned that a development will cause property values to decrease. However, careful planning and respect for local opinion minimizes the risk posed by new development. Once the legitimate neighbor concerns have been addressed, the needs of the community as a whole must be addressed. Most importantly, a new development must support the needs, and be a benefit to, Naperville. With very few exceptions, Naperville has done an excellent job of balancing neighbor concerns with new development. Current citizen surveys support this conclusion since 94% of Naperville residents are satisfied with their quality of life.How should the city prepare and pay for major expenses in its public utilities such as water, wastewater and electric service? How can this be done within the current financial principles of passing structurally balanced budgets, reducing debt and increasing reserves? Should those principles remain, or do they need to be changed? Why?Naperville's water, wastewater and electric services are enterprise funds. The service users pay the cost associated with delivery of the service. For example, Naperville's electric rates reflect the to purchase and deliver electricity to a home or business. But that home or business pays only for the electric service used. Naperville relies on professional rate studies to develop options for setting our utility rates. EPA regulations require extremely expensive modifications our Springwater Treatment facility. Naperville will likely adopt rates with gradual increases to spread the cost of these modifications over a period of time. These efforts support Naperville's financial principles.Because Naperville operates our utilities as enterprise funds, our general funds such as property taxes do not subsidize the cost of utility services. The cost to maintain and upgrade our utilities is paid entirely by the end users. Naperville's financial principles have imposed discipline on the staff and Council. In order to maintain these principles, the staff and Council need to closely review the budget on an on-going basis. However, the end result has been quite successful. Since adopting the financial principles, Naperville has been able to replenish its rainy day emergency funds while reducing the overall debt levels. At the same time, Naperville has been able to maintain a steady property tax rate.Rate the efficiency of your town's police and fire coverage. Are the departments well prepared for the next decade? What, if anything, should be changed? Do you have specific public safety concerns?Naperville provides excellent police and fire coverage to all residents. Each department as at the forefront of implementing technology and cutting edge techniques. For example, per police department is at the forefront of monitoring Cybercrimes. I personally witnessed our fire department deploy new firefighting tactics in my neighborhood that prevented loss of life and damage to surrounding structures. All of our fire personnel are trained as paramedics. Naperville has one of the few fire departments to receive accreditation from all of the accreditation agencies. We are extremely fortunate to have these public safety professionals serving our community.I believe that our police and fire departments should work with outside agencies to determine whether these agencies are duplicating service within our borders. Specifically, we should work with the DuPage and Will County Sheriff's offices to determine if they provide services to our residents that can be cost-effectively provided by Naperville police. Our fire department should work with other fire protection districts to determine if we are duplicating services with the hope of passing savings on to the taxpayers.Naperville has been fortunate to avoid issues that have plagued police and fire departments in other parts of the country. We should continue to look for technology improvement that can minimize the risk to our police and fire fighters as well as the risk to the community.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Since the Great Recession, Naperville has cut its workforce by approximately ten percent. Naperville remains a service business. As a result, seventy-five percent of our budget consists of personnel costs. The City is in the process of evaluating each department. Typical questions that are asked as part of the evacuation are: Is the strive necessary? Can the service be outsourced? Is the service being delivered as cost-effectively as possible? How can technology improve the delivery of the service?The zoning and development process has not yet gone through this review process. These processes remain largely unchanged from the era during which Naperville was annexing and zoning large tracts of land. I anticipate that the City will enjoy significant savings as these departments implement new technologies and adjust to the changes in the nature of Naperville's development.The budget review process is never-ending. The City Council and staff are constantly looking at ways to provide excellent service at the most affordable price.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I continue to believe that our zoning ordinance needs serious revision. Our current ordinance was adopted in the 1980's at a time during which Naperville was experiencing tremendous growth and growth was projected well into the future. That ordinance considered the development of massive areas of farmland and providing for homes, businesses, schools, parks, churches and roadways. We have completed that phase of development. Older neighborhoods are already experiencing redevelopment. Redevelopment poses new challenges that our current ordinance does not meet. the 21st century economy is quite different than the economy in the 1980's. A new zoning ordinance will recognize that large retailers, like Macy's and Sears, will no longer anchor retail developments. Future successful retail developments will need to incorporate residential and entertainment components. We have never seen, but need to encourage, these types of developments. If we fail to adapt our ordinance and processes, Naperville may miss exciting opportunities. Fortunately, the redevelopment of the Fifth Avenue properties will provide us with a chance to review our processes to make sure that they are efficient, responsive and inclusive.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Naperville businesses such as Walgreens and Office Max have been at the forefront of providing employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities such as autism. These individuals often develop highly desirable employment skill sets. I would like the City of Naperville to work with local agencies to identify jobs with requirements that might be filled by these individuals.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope Francis. I find his message of forgiveness and inclusion particularly inspiring.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Teamwork. I grew up as the oldest of five boys. We were quite competitive. If we didn't work together nothing was accomplished.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have taken advantage of the opportunities available in school and studied abroad. I would have seen the world when I had the chance.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. History is really the study of decisions made under stress. I try to remain clearheaded when making a decision under stress.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Remember that as Joe Maddon says, "Anxiety lives in the future." Relax and enjoy life.